Page 14 of Passing Ships
“I’ve got a meeting with a chief petty officer from the Coast Guard Station on Caswell Beach,” I reply.
“For what?” he asks.
“Don’t say anything to Mom or Nana, but I’m considering a transfer.”
His hand, holding his fork, stops halfway to his mouth, and his eyes snap to mine. “A transfer? What does that mean? You’d leave the Navy?”
“Thought the Navy and Coast Guard were the same thing?” Anson interjects.
“The Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security during peacetime, but under the command of the Navy during wartime,” I explain.
“So, it would be a lateral move?” Anson asks.
“Sort of. I would do an IST, which is an interservice transfer. The transfer allows officers to continue their service career without interruption, and since I’m an unrestricted line officer now, I could captain a Coast Guard vessel.”
“All I heard was blah, blah, blah officer,” he quips.
“Basically, I can transfer to the Coast Guard without giving anything up. Or I could retire and go into business with Wade, which he has offered up. Today, I’m going to feel out the transfer option.”
“What brought this on? I’ve never heard you talk about leaving the Navy before,” Seb asks.
I shrug. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about lately. I’d like to be around more now that Sebby and Sabel are getting older and with Dad’s recent health scares.”
“Would you have to live on Oak Island?” Parker asks.
I shake my head. “No. I could live here. I’d just go to work every day, like any other job.”
“When would you move?” Seb asks.
“I’d have to complete my current active-duty contract with the Navy, so it wouldn’t be until after the end of this year. Probably sometime early next spring.”
His face lights up at the prospect.
“Don’t get your hopes up. I’m just exploring my options. Nothing might come of it.”
“I’m not, but I’d love to have my big brother around more.”
A chime sounds from his pocket, and he fishes his phone out and looks at the screen. He frowns and taps on the glass as he stands and walks away from the table.
When he returns, he has a bemused look on his face.
“Looks like you’re going to have a roommate,” he says, the statement directed at me. “That was Avie. Amiya showed up this afternoon, and Avie sent her to the cabana, not realizing you were already settled there. She assumed you were staying at Wade’s.”
Wade’s home is filled to capacity with Eden; his son, Dillon, who’s in town for the summer with a friend in tow; and Eden’s brother.
“Wade has a full house,” I note.
I could ask him to see if Eden’s parents would let me rent their place for a few weeks.
“Yeah, I told her,” he says.
“You’re welcome to bunk on our couch. It pulls out,” Parker offers.
He and Anson have a two-bedroom condo not far from the cabana.
Great. Four weeks on a pullout bed doesn’t sound ideal.
“Avie said Amiya doesn’t have a problem with sharing the cabana if you’re fine with it.”